Magnate repels many, but leads polls in Italy

May 05, 2001|By Tom Hundley, Tribune foreign correspondent.

ROME — On the subject of Silvio Berlusconi, few Italians are neutral.

Half see the candidate for prime minister as a slick wheeler-dealer who built his media empire by buying politicians and paying off tax collectors. The other half see him as a classic Italian success story, a self-made man whose magic touch will rub off on the country's chaotic political system.

Never before in a postwar Italian election has one candidate's personality--his glaring faults and glittering attributes--towered so large.

"This election, unfortunately, has turned into a referendum on Berlusconi," said Antonio Martino, who served as foreign minister in Berlusconi's first, short-lived government in 1994. "The issues are no longer being debated. ... It's whether you like Berlusconi or you hate Berlusconi."

The last published polls on April 26 showed Berlusconi, 64, leading his center-left rival, former Rome Mayor Francesco Rutelli, by 4 to 6 percentage points.

The May 13 election is being watched with considerable alarm by the rest of Europe. Some are concerned that Berlusconi's coalition partners, the post-Fascist National Alliance and the blatantly xenophobic Northern League, are cut from the same political cloth as Joerg Haider's far-right Freedom Party in Austria.

Others are more troubled by nagging questions about Berlusconi's integrity. Last week, The Economist, a respected British magazine, ran a cover story headlined "Why Silvio Berlusconi is unfit to lead Italy."

The magazine re-examined Berlusconi's rap sheet, which includes three recent convictions on charges of corruption, bribery and tax fraud. One case resulted in an acquittal on appeal. The other two were dismissed because the statute of limitations had expired.

Berlusconi also has been investigated for alleged ties to the Mafia and complicity in murder. That investigation was closed last year with no charges brought, but it has raised questions about some of his closest business associates.

Business dealings questioned

The magazine's investigation into some of Berlusconi's offshore financial dealings and a secret network of holding companies suggests a broad pattern of money laundering and other dubious financial transactions.

Six criminal cases against Berlusconi are pending or are being appealed by Italian prosecutors.

The Economist's blunt verdict: "Berlusconi is not fit to lead the government of any country, least of all one of the world's richest democracies."

Berlusconi denies all criminal wrongdoing. His reply to the magazine was a threat to sue.

What puzzles some outsiders is how someone with so much baggage could get this far in politics.

"People in Italy think his legal troubles are politically motivated," said Ernesto Galli della Loggia, a political analyst for the Milan daily Corriere della Sera.

"Italians don't trust the [legal] system. Every Italian, more or less, has his own problems with the system, so people are ready to forgive. They don't think he's a real criminal," he said.

A second argument often raised in Berlusconi's defense is that paying off public officials is merely the way business is done in Italy.

Another troubling aspect of Berlusconi's candidacy is the conflict of interest that his vast business empire will pose if he becomes head of the government.

Richest citizen

With a fortune worth $12 billion, he is Italy's richest citizen. Forbes magazine ranked him 14th on its annual list of the world's wealthiest people.

Fininvest, his main holding company, has a controlling share in Italy's three largest commercial television networks, which have a combined 43 percent share of the national audience. If he becomes prime minister, he also will exert a powerful influence over the state-owned RAI broadcasting network, which has most of the rest of Italy's television market share.

Never before has a developed democracy been faced with the possibility of one man having so much control over his nation's airwaves.

In addition, Berlusconi owns Mondadori, Italy's largest publishing house, with a 30 percent market share. His empire also includes a top soccer team, the Italian yellow pages and a controlling interest in Blockbuster Italia, the video rental franchise.

Galli della Loggia, the political analyst, said Italians do not see conflict of interest as that big of a deal.

"Many Italians have a little conflict of interest of their own. For instance, maybe you are a public employee who has a black market job on the side and maybe you don't pay all the taxes," he said.

Conflict of interest laws are almost non-existent in Italy, but Berlusconi has hinted that he may voluntarily sell off his holdings if he wins the election.

Thus far, Berlusconi has refused to debate his challenger and declined to answer new questions about his early business dealings. Instead, he prefers telling and retelling the story of his success.